When you are taking a deep dive into the world of business ownership one of the very best and most exciting avenues for entrepreneurship are franchise business opportunities. We are going to discuss what are some of the key benefits of franchise business opportunities.
So a lot of people have misconceptions about it because they think, ooh, franchise, right? McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King; it's all french fries and fast food. So here are some fun stats to start off our discussion today.
How many different franchise concepts do you think there are?
There are 4,000 plus out there.
And how many people do franchises employ?
More than 8 million people.
And what about veterans? They're big on getting into franchising. How many franchises are veteran-owned?
One out of every seven franchises is veteran-owned.
What are some of the key benefits of franchise business opportunities?
Generally, when people are looking at a franchise opportunity, it's because they're looking to make a change and they want a business that's going to be stable, can provide income, freedom and flexibility.
But what is a franchise?
When you're investing money into a franchise business opportunity, you're getting the brand, so the name, the logo, the recognition of customers who may already know and love and support that brand, but you're also getting all of the training, the support, the marketing, and many times the back office call center and solutions and technology that are going to support you. Done for you. We love those kind of businesses.
What are some of the financial aspects or important financial points about franchise business opportunities?
Franchise opportunities do require an investment. You mean you have to have some money?
Yes, you're going to have to have some money, when we work with candidates, we want you to be financially stable. So you should really consider having a minimum of $50,000 in the bank to give serious consideration. Most franchise opportunities are going to be in the range of $100,000 to $150,000. But don't worry, you don't have to have that all in the bank. We have wonderful funding partners we can connect you with and many of the top franchises that we work with actually provide their own funding for you.
Ok, I am super interested now in franchise opportunities, should I run out there and research franchises all over the internet?
Probably the most common statement we get is I want a franchise business opportunity so I'm just going to Google it.
What do we say?
We say "DON’T DO IT”! There's so much misinformation out there about franchises and franchise opportunities that when you're out there researching on the internet, you don't even know if the information you're getting is real. Probably bigger than that is something we call “getting sharked”. That is when you're on the internet looking at franchise opportunities you're probably filling out these fancy forms that look like they may belong to the franchisor when they're really not. They're just some lead-gathering organization and you're going to put your name on the list. You're going to start getting emails, texts, calls, and so on and so forth. So we highly encourage you that that is really NOT the best way to start your journey to looking at franchise business opportunities.
So what they should do is work with someone like us, somebody who's been down all the paths and actually owns a franchise today. We have our own nine-step proprietary system that we guide you through to really help you learn about exploring franchise business opportunities and ultimately find the one that's going to be a great fit for you.
What would you say is the biggest mistake that many people make when they're first exploring franchise opportunities?
The biggest mistake that we’ve seen in talking to candidates about franchise opportunities is they'll come on all gung ho in that first call and they'll be like guys we're ready to buy a franchise. We want to do a Dunkin Donuts because we love donuts.
Please DON’T DO that either. In most cases, you don't know what you don't know. It's one of those things where we’ll just give it to you from our experience when we went through this exact process 17 years ago with our current franchise that we still own today. If you told us then we would end up acquiring a Hawaiian Coffee and Smoothie franchise, we would've told you you were absolutely crazy. But what we did do was go into this process with an open mind.
We looked at many concepts, we narrowed it down to three and we did our due diligence and this is the one we ended up with. It was certainly not what we had in mind when we started. So we just say, keep an open mind about franchises because it may be there's a better fit for you based on your “why”, what you're trying to accomplish than the one that you think is the most obvious.
Two candidates we worked with recently one ended up in a mobile pet grooming franchise. They came in and they knew they loved pets, but they just didn't know what was out there. So just like we never knew that there was such a thing as a Hawaiian-themed Coffee Smoothie franchise. They never knew there was a mobile grooming franchise.
Another candidate we worked with kind of knew they wanted to travel. There why was they wanted some freedom and flexibility. They had no idea there was a travel agency that was a franchise or business opportunity. So come in with an open mind. Almost all the candidates we work with end up in a business that they never even thought of, never knew the name of and never had envisioned themselves in it.
Key points regarding franchise business opportunities.
If you're going to look at franchise opportunities go in with an open mind, and be willing to learn and explore.
Don't do it on the internet.
Really pay attention to people that can help you. We are franchise consultants, or we like to call ourselves franchise placement specialists, and we're like a realtor for franchises. When you're going to buy your dream home, you work with a realtor. If you're serious about finding the business of your dreams, work with someone like us. We're going to help you get clarity on your why, help you understand all the documents, and make that front-of-the-line introduction so you can get your questions answered.
Ultimately make sure that whatever business you end up checks all the boxes for you and answers your “why” you want to own a business.
So in kind of summarizing what we talked about today, it was really franchise business opportunities. We shared some fun stats. We talked about what a franchise is, the basics of what you get when you're investing in a franchise and what that monetary investment level can look like. Some of the mistakes we've seen people make and also why (after they make all those mistakes) they end up working with someone like us. If that’s you, don’t be shy, please feel free to reach out to us with and questions or concerns regarding franchise business opportunities.
What's Your Next? - Podcast
 | Author BioI’m Stacey Riska aka “Small Business Stacey”, your franchise placement specialist. I help aspiring business owners find the PERFECT franchise so they can get to the next level in life and business. |
